In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss and no more than 50% of the source material, provide a link back to the original article and provide your original comments / criticism in your post with the article.

Original Message

Rick Osmon was selected for the United States Air Force Academy right out of high school. He later attended Vincennes University and earned an Associates of Science in Laser and Electro-Optics Technology. He worked for defense contractors a number of years and then took a job with the US Navy as a civilian with an engineering support field activity, specializing in radar, night vision, and laser equipment for surveillance and munitions guidance Most of this work was in direct support of Special Operations forces equipment acquisitions. In that capacity, Rick also became familiar with video-teleconferencing technology.

But all those years, Rick was also reading everything he could find about the weird and unusual, history, archeology, paleontology, geography, cartography, cryptozoology, cryptography, and hollow earth theory.

After leaving government employment in 2004, Rick began this hunt for hidden knowledge full time. He also began blogging, researching, and writing, and, in early 2007, started an internet radio show entitled “The Oopa Loopa Cafe”. In 2008, he began pestering his long time research buddy, Dennis Crenshaw, to start another internet show about the various mysteries. Dennis chose the title “Unraveling the Secrets”.

At the beginning of 2010, those 2 shows became part of an affiliation network with other show hosts to form Paranormal Soup Network. By the end of 2010, the endeavor was re-branded and renamed the Soup Media Network.

Now Rick is becoming well known on the conference circuit and is writing more than blogs. His first book, The Graves of the Golden Bear; Ancient Monuments and Fortresses of the Ohio Valley was released in October of 2011.

__________________What if our history books are wrong and Columbus wasn't the first European to set foot in North America? The Graves of the Golden Bears will challenge some of your core historical beliefs. From the earliest maps of the Gulf of Mexico by the Spanish explorers to the beginning of the 20th century, claims were made that a Welsh prince named Madoc brought thousands of colonists to North America centuries before Columbus. Though those claims were debunked, the claimants denigrated, and much of the evidence was lost or destroyed, some deliberately, the story lives on. Through shrewd and thorough investigation, this book shows that there is high probability and substantial documentation that four different countries knew the stories were true in general even if errant in details. None of those governments were or are yet willing to acknowledge the truth of such a mass immigration. This book tells why. In doing so, it also reveals some of the most appalling political intrigues in history. Prevailing and opposing political and religious doctrines are dissected and the reasons for such a huge, longstanding, and base coverup explained.

Using colonial era maps, modern computer and satellite imaging technology, historical accounts, official documents, archeological reports, and through collaboration with several other researchers the author found the sites of more than forty five ancient fortresses. In addition to the fortress sites that were known by the beginning of the 21st century, the author adds three more that were previously undocumented. The use of satellite imagery allows comparison of the strategic placement of the Ohio Valley fortresses and other ancient structures to those of the British Isles. The correlations of these sites are far greater than chance.

Also described in this text are artifacts, engraved stones, coins, arms, armor, and skeletal remains of Old World origin found in the greater Ohio, Tennessee, Chattahoochee, Virginia's New River, and Mississippi valleys. Forward by Scott Wolter, author of "The Hooked X: Key to the Secret History of North America".